1994 SILVER FOOTBALL AWARD.

Penn State's Collins Proves Doubters Wrong

December 08, 1994|By Andrew Bagnato, Tribune College Football Writer.

Kerry Collins can't go for an ice cream cone at Penn State's University Creamery without being slapped on the back. He can't walk to the team bus after games without being engulfed by autograph-seekers.

He can't flip on the radio or surf the television channels without hearing someone rave about him.

All of which represents a significant change in the life of the Penn State senior, who turns 22 on Dec. 30. Barely 13 months ago, it would have been hard to find a handful of Nittany Lion fans willing to hoist a "COLLINS FOR HEISMAN" banner.

Remember Nov. 13, 1993? The date stands out in Collins' memory. Penn State was cruising past Illinois on an afternoon of alternating downpour and drizzle in the central Pennsylvania mountains. But some of the Beaver Stadium fanatics decided they had had enough after Collins threw his third interception.

"There were 96,000 people and I wasn't having a very good game," Collins said. "I remember coming off the field one time and, despite the fact we were leading, I was being booed. It's hard to forget those things."

This ought to make it a little easier: The Tribune has awarded Collins the 1994 Silver Football, presented annually to the Big 10's Most Valuable Player.

The winner is chosen in a vote of Big 10 coaches, the Big 10 office and the Tribune sports staff. Each school nominates its own MVP, and the voters choose from among that pool of candidates.

The first winner was Red Grange in 1924. In the seven decades since, some of the greatest names in football history-Tom Harmon, Otto Graham, Dick Butkus and Howard "Hopalong" Cassady among them-have been engraved on the trophy.

Collins belongs on that exclusive list. He is the top-ranked passer in major-college football and, not coincidentally, has led the second-ranked Nittany Lions to an 11-0 record, their first Big 10 football title and a shot at the national championship.

He embodies the Big 10, past and present. Like many former Big 10 stars, he's large (6 feet 5 inches, 235 pounds) and as mobile as sod. His right arm and keen understanding of the passing game make him the perfect MVP in an offensively explosive year in the conference.

Collins is also among a half-dozen Heisman Trophy finalists, although he'll be a long shot when the winner is announced Saturday night. Next spring he stands to be awarded a contract as one of the top 10 or so picks in the National Football League's draft.

"Collins is the best quarterback we've seen," said Oregon coach Rich Brooks, whose Ducks will be in Collins' crosshairs on Jan. 2 in the Rose Bowl.

Collins has completed 67 percent of his passes for 2,679 yards and 21 touchdowns. He threw seven interceptions in 264 attempts. He set four school single-season passing records.

But the numbers tell only part of the story of his phenomenal year; the proof is also in Penn State's playbook. The prototypical Penn State attack is about as flamboyant as the team's all-white road outfits, but in 1994 the Nittany Lions made the scoreboard spin and dared the opposition to keep up.

Coach Joe Paterno, who helped cost Penn State the 1993 Big 10 title when he called four unsuccessful goal-line plunges against Michigan, has not hesitated to put the most talented offense in America in Collins' hands.

Along with Collins, the Nittany Lions have terrific receivers, Freddie Scott and Bobby Engram; a superb tight end, Kyle Brady; and a devastating backfield of Ki-Jana Carter-another Heisman finalist-Mike Archie, Jon Witman and Brian Milne. Interestingly, the two front-runners for this year's Silver Football-Collins and Carter-played in the same backfield.

"I really don't think he had much of a choice but to let us throw, and I feel fortunate that I was able to be part of the whole thing," Collins said.

He came into the year believing he was just the man to handle the controls of Penn State's high-flying attack, but the rest of the world needed convincing. When training camps opened back in August, one major publication listed its top 20 quarterbacks. Ron Powlus of Notre Dame ranked 10th, but Collins was left out. Nor was he included among 18 top All-American picks by Street and Smith's, the preseason bible of the campus game.

But the experts weren't alone. Even Paterno seemed to doubt his quarterback, if the following quotation from the Nittany Lions press guide is any indication: "I think Kerry Collins would be the guy going into the season. He would be our No. 1 guy. He will get a lot of pressure from Wally Richardson (a redshirt sophomore)."

Not exactly a ringing endorsement, is it? But Collins had not done much to deserve his coach's confidence. After he was booed off the field against Illinois last fall, Collins had thrown almost as many interceptions in his career (12) as touchdowns (14).